ACA health plans are heavily subsidized

Virginians who bought "silver" health insurance plans through the state's federally facilitated marketplace are paying an average of $66 per month in premiums, the Department of Health and Human Services reported Tuesday. That compared favorably to a national average of $69 for silver plans.

In a media conference call, the HHS released only partial information for "background" and required attribution to "senior officials" rather than naming sources. It restricted the data to the 34 states like Virginia where the insurance marketplace is federally facilitated.

Also, the agency only gave average payments, rather than median. Questions about the demographic breakdown of those subscribing to silver plans — the most popular of the levels, from bronze to platinum — and the total cost of government subsidies through tax credits went unanswered. The average premium for an unsubsidized plan is $331 with the majority of consumers paying only about one-quarter of the cost.

The HHS report asserted that nearly three-quarters of Virginians who bought subsidized health insurance paid less than $100 a month and almost half paid $50 or less, in line with the national numbers.

Not surprisingly, the report found that in states with more carriers and more competition, premiums were lower. In 2013-14 new issuers represented almost one-quarter of the marketplace and HHS anticipates more issuers in the marketplace next year.

An HHS spokeswoman credited the Affordable Care Act and the end of medical underwriting with allowing consumers to make direct comparisons among plans for the first time. The ACA's 80/20 medical loss ratio that requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of premium revenue on health care also returned millions of dollars to consumers.

In 2012, more than 235,000 Virginians received almost $12 million in refunds. Further, she said that enhanced rate reviews had halved the proportion of insurance company requests for double-digit rate increases and saved consumers millions in premium costs.